A New York state plan to eliminate wild mute swans by 2025 has environmentalists on one side and animal activists on the other.

Margot AdlerNPR

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Originally published on March 12, 2014 11:02 am

A plan in New York state to eliminate all wild mute swans there by 2025 has drawn protests and petitions on all sides. While some see elegant white birds gliding across the water, others see a dangerous aggressor destroying the local ecosystem.

According to the state Department of Environmental Conservation, the swans — which don't honk but make hoarse, froglike grunts — are not native, and they destroy and attack native species. Amanda Rodewald, director of conservation science at Cornell University, says they've threatened loons in Michigan and least terns in Maryland.

"We are worried about them in New York because of the black tern population that we have," Rodewald says. Black terns there, she says, have only a few nesting colonies remaining.

The swans eat and pull out large amounts of submerged aquatic vegetation, destroying food sources for other birds. But what makes a nonnative species invasive?

Adam Welz, an ornithologist and filmmaker who lives in Brooklyn, says that when European songbirds were introduced in America, they failed to take. But in 1890, when a group of Shakespeare enthusiasts released 60 European starlings in Central Park, they multiplied into the millions.

"Most invasions, once they reached an explosive stage, are actually out of control," Welz says. "There is no way you can deal with them."

Stopping population growth before it explodes, he says, is "a prudent strategy to follow in general with invasive species."

Debating The Science

Mute swans were likely brought over in the late 1800s from Europe or Asia. In the 1970s, there were about 1,000 in New York; now there are 2,200. When the DEC studied the three places in New York where the swans are currently abundant, they found only one location, near Lake Ontario, where the species was growing rapidly.

David Karopkin, a defender of the swans and the founder of GooseWatch in Brooklyn, wonders how anyone can call that invasive.

"The science is faulty," Karopkin says. "It's weak at best."

Looking at the DEC proposal, Welz says he wishes the DEC had brought "a little more science to the party." Its approach has been tone deaf and legalistic, he says. Still, he is no defender of the swans. Just the other day, he says, he saw one knock over a toddler.

"No real harm done. He was a little dusty and upset, but we know that swans can be very dangerous," Welz says. "A man was drowned two years ago in Illinois by a swan — killed by a swan, a full-grown man."

Other critics of the DEC's plan wonder why it's focusing on 2,200 swans when there is so much natural habitat being destroyed by development. Rodewald agrees that ecosystems are facing huge problems — but, she says, we should act now before the swans are widespread.

"This is a situation where we can remove one of the threats, one of the stresses on these native ecosystems," Rodewald says.

There's another problem. If you go into a New York City park in May without a pair of binoculars, you may not see any of the more than 150 species of birds all around you. But a family taking a child to the park will see the swans and connect with them. They're big, they're visible, and they're full of romantic associations. They're important in people's lives, Karopkin says, "not just because they are beautiful; it is because people value and respect life."

Rodewald thinks it's just difficult for most people to think about large ecosystems, populations and habitats.

"The submerged aquatic vegetation," she says, "is inherently less charismatic than this beautiful swan."

Noting the thousands of comments and signatures on petitions, the DEC is revising its plan. It may decide to treat each area where the swans live differently, which may include nonlethal means of control.

Copyright 2014 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.

Transcript

ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:

Mute swans are big, white, and beautiful. But in New York state, the Department of Environmental Conservation proposed to eliminate all wild mute swans by 2025. That drew protests, petitions, and comments on all sides. It divided birders and pitted some environmentalists against animal rights activists. As NPR's Margot Adler reports, that plan is now being rethought.

MARGOT ADLER, BYLINE: First of all, mute swans are not exactly mute but they don't really honk. This is what they sound like according to the Audubon app on my cellphone.

(SOUNDBITE OF SWANS)

ADLER: I go out to Sheepshead Bay in Brooklyn with David Karopkin, founder of GooseWatch. He's a big defender of the swans. We come across 35 mute swans among Canada geese, mallards, seagulls.

DAVID KAROPKIN: I see an array of birds and other forms of wildlife, and they seem to be doing quite well and getting along with all of the other birds here.

ADLER: According to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, mute swans are not native and they destroy and attack native species. That's a big reason why the DEC wants to see them eliminated. Amanda Rodewald is a director of conservation science at the lab of ornithology at Cornell University. She says mute swans have threatened least terns in Maryland, loons in Michigan.

AMANDA RODEWALD: We're worried about them in New York because of the black tern population that we have, which is a state endangered group where there only are few nesting colonies remaining.

ADLER: Mute swans eat and pull out large amounts of submerged aquatic vegetation, destroying food sources for other birds. But here's where it gets complicated. What makes a nonnative species invasive? Adam Welz, an ornithologist and filmmaker who lives in Brooklyn, told me European songbirds were introduced in America and they failed to take. But when a group of Shakespeare enthusiasts released 60 European starlings in Central Park in 1890, they multiplied into the millions, causing crop damage and all kinds of problems all over the United States.

ADAM WELZ: Most invasions, once they reach an explosive stage, are actually out of control. There's no way you can deal with them.

ADLER: So, one view toward invasive species would be, in Welz words...

WELZ: Nip them in the bud. That's a prudent strategy to follow in general with invasive species.

ADLER: Mute swans were probably brought over in the late 1800s from Europe or Asia. In the 1970s, there were 1,000 of them in New York; now, there are 2,200. But when the DEC studied the three places in New York where the swans are currently abundant, only one group, near Lake Ontario, is growing rapidly.

So critics, like GooseWatch's Karopkin, say how can you call that invasive.

KAROPKIN: The science is faulty, and it's weak at best.

ADLER: Adam Welz is no defender of mute swans. Just the other day, he saw a hungry mute swan approach a toddler.

WELZ: And the swan knocked the child over. I mean, no real harm done. He was just a little dusty and, you know, upset. But, you know, we know that swans can be very dangerous. I mean, a man was drowned two years ago in Illinois by a swan - killed by a swan, a full-grown man.

ADLER: But when looking at the DEC proposal, he says he wishes they had brought...

WELZ: A little more science to the party. There's a little bit of a tone deaf approach being taken by DEC, a little bit sort of legalistic.

ADLER: Other critics ask, why are we focused on 2,200 swans when there is so much natural habitat being destroyed by development? But Amanda Rodewald of Cornell disagrees. Yes, ecosystems are facing huge problems but we should act now before the swans are widespread.

RODEWALD: This is a situation where we can remove one of the threats, one of the stresses on these native ecosystems.

ADLER: But here's a problem. If you go into a city park here in May without a pair of binoculars, you may not see any of the more than 150 species of birds all around you. But the family taking their child to the park will see the swans and connect with them. They're big, you can see them, they're full of romantic associations.

David Karopkin of GooseWatch says swans are important in people's lives.

KAROPKIN: And it's not just because they're beautiful. It's because people value and respect life.

ADLER: But Amanda Rodewald thinks it's just difficult for most people to think about large ecosystems, populations and habitats. As she puts it...

RODEWALD: The submerged aquatic vegetation is inherently less charismatic than this beautiful swan.

ADLER: David Karopkin says it may be beauty that saves the swans but it won't save the countless other species that humans kill with impunity. Noting the thousands of comments and signatures on petitions, the DEC is revising its plan. They may decide to treat each area where the swans live differently, and they may include nonlethal means of control.

Margot Adler, NPR News, New York.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "NATIVE NEW YORKER")

ODYSSEY: (Singing) ...win the applause. Oh. You're a native New Yorker. No opens the door for a native New Yorker. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.